Emotion and ignorance lead to judging mayhem

By Ivy Susanti

JAKARTA (JP): Athletes are whingeing, coaches are moaning and the judges are getting defensive. It must be a regional gymnastics competition.

The problem is simple. The coaches have got high expectations of their gymnasts and some judges are not on top of their profession.

The result is controversy. Lots of it.

The technical delegate from the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG), Adrian Stoica, told The Jakarta Post that it was the coaches' and gymnasts' expectations to win medals that had sparked such emotional reactions to some of the scores.

"The coaches have trained the gymnasts very hard to perform certain skills, but they do not always perform well enough," he said.

Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand have all demanded judges review decisions this week, either on the starting value of a routine or the deductions from the value during the four days of competition.

"According to FIG's rules, (reviews of gymnasts' performances) are not allowed," he said, adding that the rule was adhered to strictly in the world championships.

Stoica said that judges had to give reasons for their decisions to satisfy the team managers and coaches, particularly in "friendship-based" championships, such as the SEA Games.

Some gymnasts have had their final scores raised after the judges spent hours rewatching their performances on video. Twin champions in both team and individual events has almost become the rule.

Stoica also said that judges needed better training to enable them to make judgments according to the code of points.

"The judgment depends on the judges' experience and their ability to recognize exactly what the gymnast has performed," Stoica, who has been a judge for about 21 years, said.

He said that the code of points had gone through many revisions in last year.

Another FIG technical delegate, Ann Bigham, said that judges often had difficulty understanding the code of points.

"It's very complex and difficult. If (the judges) do not understand, it's very easy to make an error or to miss something," said Bigham, who is a judge in the women's event.

In artistic events, six judges score on each panel during the three competitions. Two judges, usually provided by FIG, set the starting value or the maximum value possible for a routine, and the other four submit deductions to this value.

In this year's SEA Games, the four judges are from Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines and Malaysia.

A judge from Indonesia, Hendi Suhendi defended his colleagues.

"There are coaches who fail to recognize the mistakes or the repetitions performed by their gymnasts," he said.

A women's event judge from Thailand, Jirapa Suwansa said that a decision on who was the best was very difficult as many gymnasts were of similar ability.

Philippine judge Robert Tejada said that judgments were always very subjective as all judges had their own tastes and views.

"I committed mistakes in the first competition. I set too low starting values for a Thai gymnast. I missed one element, so eventually I had to raise the starting value," he said.